Garmin and AT&T announced today that AT&T will provide the wireless network connection for the nüvi 1690, a portable navigation device (PND) with a built-in wireless module planned for release later this year.

The nüvi 1690 will come equipped with Garmin’s nüLink!, an industry leading, feature-rich service that will provide customers mobile access to Google™ Local search and up-to-date local information, including traffic, weather, fuel prices, movie listings, flight status, local events, and white page telephone listings. The service also features Ciao!™, Garmin’s exclusive location-based social networking system that connects multiple networks into a single portal for Garmin users.

The U.S. version of the nüvi 1690 will be offered with two years of free Garmin nüLink! service, making it the first online PND to offer an extended period of online features included in the purchase price of the device. It will come equipped with preloaded maps of North America and is expected to be available in the fourth quarter for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $499.99. Following the first two years of service, the Garmin nüLink! subscription renewal price for data services is $5.00/month.

The nüvi 1690 is Garmin’s first mobile navigation device to transform traditional social networking into location-enabled social networking. Through Ciao!, a patent-pending social network application that links multiple location-centric social networks onto one application, customers have the option of sharing their whereabouts with friends and family. Ciao! users will see their friends’ location on a map and then be able to navigate to that location.

The nüvi 1690 also features Bluetooth® Wireless Technology that makes it possible to receive and place phone calls directly from the nüvi, once paired with a wireless phone. It can be paired with over 200 Bluetooth enabled phones, and a driver can retrieve and dial numbers using a supported phone’s contact list, the phone’s call history log, or the nüvi’s preloaded points of interest database.

In addition to the local search feature, Garmin nüLink! offers a plethora of other online services. Local events and movie listings help customers find interesting activities wherever they might travel. Real-time flight status takes the stress out of traveling to the airport with up-to-the minute arrival and departure information for major air carriers. And the Garmin nüLink! traffic feature provides the best-in-class information from NAVTEQ to help customers navigate in and around congestion.

Customers can also opt to use the nüvi 1690’s preloaded POI database to search for a location and then receive turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions to the destination. The nüvi 1690 includes lane assist with junction view so drivers will see a realistic presentation of road signs and junctions along the route, as well as arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation. These features make it easy to navigate unfamiliar intersections and exits because the nüvi guides drivers to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit. Map and traffic data is provided by NAVTEQ a world leader in premium-quality mapping.